Best airport to be stranded at?

The holidays mean many things, among them: travel. Combine that with wild weather patterns and you often get some unexpected downtime in the world's weirdest corners. We're talking layovers and delays and canceled flights and the like.

But what if that wasn't all bad news? What if there were an airport that you actually looked forward to being stuck in? Is it possible? According to this list of favorites, it may be.

In no particular order and certainly not the result of any scientific survey, here is GlobalPost's list of the 12 best airports to be stuck in all around the world — for reasons big and small:

1. Best rooftop deck: Tokyo's Narita International Airport

Masayuki Kawagishi/
It has been described as a "dream come true." Narita airport boasts an outdoor, where you can watch planes of every make and model and country take off and land. Huzzah!

2. Best access to chocolate: Brussels Airport

Brussels' airport doubles as the in the world. This is not a joke. The vendors sell more than 800 tons per year — more than anywhere else — and guarantee the best prices on Neuhaus, Godiva and Corne Port-Royal chocolates. If you find better value somewhere else they will pay you back twice over!

3. Best use of hexagons: Berlin's Tegel Airport

Ralf Hirschberger/AFP/Getty Images
Tegel terminal is a large hexagon. The honeycomb shape is repeated in towers, stairways and floor tiles. In the words of one waylaid passenger, "Spend an afternoon wandering Tegel, photographing ceilings and things, wondering why everyone else is not doing the same." Also makes you wonder why more airports haven't followed suit, since the shape also allows for some of the shortest flight connections you can imagine.

Okay, so the rooftop deck is cool. And chocolate is delicious, but what does a hexagon have to do with being stranded *inside* the airport? And "best butterfly garden?" That's cool but how much competition is there for that... really?

I love and respect NPR but this list and its title seem mutually exclusive.

Give me the chocolate, gummy candy, beer, and beach and I'm set for a week's worth of delays. It doesn't matter what shape the terminal is if the inside is scary and there is nowhere to sit.

The holidays mean many things, among them: travel. Combine that with wild weather patterns and you often get some unexpected downtime in the world's weirdest corners. We're talking layovers and delays and canceled flights and the like.

But what if that wasn't all bad news? What if there were an airport that you actually looked forward to being stuck in? Is it possible? According to this list of favorites, it may be.

In no particular order and certainly not the result of any scientific survey, here is GlobalPost's list of the 12 best airports to be stuck in all around the world — for reasons big and small:

1. Best rooftop deck: Tokyo's Narita International Airport

Masayuki Kawagishi/
It has been described as a "dream come true." Narita airport boasts an outdoor, where you can watch planes of every make and model and country take off and land. Huzzah!

2. Best access to chocolate: Brussels Airport

Brussels' airport doubles as the in the world. This is not a joke. The vendors sell more than 800 tons per year — more than anywhere else — and guarantee the best prices on Neuhaus, Godiva and Corne Port-Royal chocolates. If you find better value somewhere else they will pay you back twice over!

3. Best use of hexagons: Berlin's Tegel Airport

Ralf Hirschberger/AFP/Getty Images
Tegel terminal is a large hexagon. The honeycomb shape is repeated in towers, stairways and floor tiles. In the words of one waylaid passenger, "Spend an afternoon wandering Tegel, photographing ceilings and things, wondering why everyone else is not doing the same." Also makes you wonder why more airports haven't followed suit, since the shape also allows for some of the shortest flight connections you can imagine.

I would say it would be an airport with a dependable train connection to the tourist area of the city.

Click to expand...

Close to downtown and relatively cheap to get there always works... LAS or DCA might not be the best places to get stuck, but they can certainly help you pass the time if you have a cancelled flight and/or unscheduled long layover.

I love the roof deck at Narita, there is also a good selection of shops and restaurants and even a dentist,but not sure I would really want to get stuck out there. Haneda wouldn't be too bad, at least there's easy access to central Tokyo.
Suvarnabumi in Thailand or Singapore's Changi might be ok.

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